Spindrift (51 page)

“Touché,” Ramirez murmured, mildly amused.

Harker felt his face burn, yet Lawrence ignored the remark. “The Annihilator is not an ordinary cosmic event. When this image was resolved, it was little more than twice the diameter of the planet you know as Jupiter. That was nearly three hundred years ago, by your reckoning. No doubt it has grown even larger since then, as it makes its way through the galaxy.”

“‘As it makes its way…?'” Harker s topped. “You mean, this thing moves?”

“At a rate of nearly two hundred kilometers per second. Judging from its present course, it appears to be gradually moving toward the galactic center. It has already passed through the outer rim, and it is currently traveling through the spiral arms.”

As Lawrence spoke, the image of the galaxy reappeared. The Annihilator swiftly diminished in size until it became a brilliant point of light suspended three-quarters of the way out from the center of the galaxy. Trailing a luminescent line behind it, it traced a winding course that led from the outermost reaches of the Milky Way, into and through the Perseus Arm, until it finally ended at the spinward edge of the Orion Arm. Harker felt something cold creep down his neck when he realized that the thing was presently traveling through their own sector of the galaxy.

“The Annihilator has been in existence as long as even the oldest starfaring races can remember,” Lawrence continued. “We believe that it originated beyond our own galaxy, the result of two globular clusters, or perhaps even a pair of dwarf galaxies, coming into collision. Under normal circumstances, the black holes at their cores would coalesce, become as one…yet on rare occasion, their opposite spins cause one of the holes to be ejected and thus become a rogue singularity, moving through intergalactic space until it is inevitably drawn toward another galaxy.”

Lawrence pointed to the Annihilator's track. “This is what has happened here. Countless billions of years ago, the Annihilator entered our own galaxy. It takes millions of years to move from one arm to another, and only lately has it entered our part of the galaxy…perhaps as recently as ten thousand years ago. Nonetheless it is unstoppable. It is a force of nature, the most lethal ever discovered.”

Lawrence turned toward Harker. “The result is always the same. If it happens to pass through a star system, any planet in its path is destroyed. Over time, its accretion belt has grown so large that even a close pass is sufficient to exterminate all life upon a world unfortunate enough to be in its way.” The image of the Annihilator expanded once more, and the ghost pointed to its swirling bands of color. “What you see here are the remains of worlds…perhaps countless in number…that have been reduced to little more than dust and rubble. And, yes, some of these have been inhabited.”

“And the survivors?” Harker stared at the image. “What have they…?”

“No world, no race, has ever survived an encounter with the Annihilator. Save for one, and only one.”

The Annihilator dissolved, to be replaced by a graphic representation of a solar system: six planets orbiting a small yellow star. “Approximately four hundred years ago, by your reckoning, the Annihilator passed through the Lambda Aurigae system, little more than forty-one light-years from Earth. You should consider yourselves fortunate that your own system was not in its path. Otherwise, you would not be here today. Instead, it came upon the homeworld of another race, known in their own language as the
taaraq
.”

The holo zoomed in upon the second planet orbiting Lambda Aurigae. “At the time, the
taaraq
had recently achieved the ability to travel from one world to another, and only then within their own system. Interstellar travel was beyond their means. Yet they were an industrious and resourceful race, capable of making great technological strides within a short amount of time, and when they detected the Annihilator and realized what it meant for them, they took measures to ensure the survival of their species.”

The view expanded slightly to encompass an asteroid belt near the
taaraq
homeworld. “Devoting all their energies to the effort, they transformed a nearby asteroid into a starship…
Shaq-Taaraq
, or ship of the
taaraq
—and transported as many of their people as they could to the vessel, where they entered a state of long-term hibernation not unlike your own.”

“So that's what it was,” Harker murmured. “An ark.”

“A goddamn big ark.” Judging from the sound of his voice, Ramirez was similarly humbled. “There must be millions of them aboard.”

“Two million five hundred thousand.” The ghost raised a hand, and the holo changed again, this time to display an image they had all seen before: Spindrift,
Shaq-Taaraq
, as a dark and lightless asteroid wandering between the stars. “At the time of the coming of the Annihilator, there were nearly five billion
taaraq
…a race that, until doomsday came upon them, had lived in peace. The majority of their race willfully sacrificed their lives so that only a relative handful would survive. The rest stayed behind and became little more than dust.”

“They fired Spindrift's engines and made their escape.” Emily's voice was choked with sadness. “Oh, God…”

Harker stepped closer to her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Five billion dead so that only two and a half million could survive. He knew nothing of the
taaraq
save for what little he'd seen of them within the catacombs of Spindrift, yet he was suddenly ashamed of himself for having thought of them as monsters. Far from that; when doomsday had come to their world, they'd mustered the courage to save some of their kind, even if it meant that the rest would perish, their lives snuffed out by a true horror.

“Where did they intend to go?” Ramirez asked. “If they've been traveling for four centuries…”

“So far as we've been able to determine, their destination is a star system elsewhere in our local arm, one that contains an uninhabited planet suitable for their biological requirements. The
Talus
has decided to keep secret the location of this planet, in order to prevent another race from colonizing it before
Shaq-Taaraq
arrives.”

“Then you've known about
Shaq-Taaraq
for quite some time.” Even as he spoke, Harker realized that he was stating the obvious. “If that's so, why haven't you helped them?”

“
Shaq-Taaraq
was discovered by a
hjadd
ship about two centuries ago. Like yourselves, its crew decided to explore it. During that time, they were able to access the memory systems, and in time we were able to decipher the
taaraq
language, much as we deciphered your own, and learned the history of their race. When we realized what we'd found, the
hjadd
reported the matter to the
Talus
, where the issue was discussed by the High Councils. In the end, it was decided that the
Talus
should treat the
taaraq
much as they would any intelligent race whom they had discovered that had not yet developed hyperspace technology…we would not interfere with their history but allow nature to take its own course.”

Once more, Lawrence turned toward the light shaft. The image changed again, this time to reveal the starbridge orbiting Spindrift. “However, because the
taaraq
are helpless…the
Shaq-Taaraq
has no defensive capabilities, because the race is pacifist by nature and its builders believed there were no other intelligent species in the galaxy…the
Talus
decided that it do what it could to protect the
taaraq
for the duration of their voyage. So a starbridge was established near the asteroid, one equipped with sensors that would alert us to any incursion by an unauthorized vessel…”

“And a beacon that was supposed to warn them away.” Harker nodded. “But what you didn't count on was an alien race…us, that is…discovering
Shaq-Taaraq
and sending out an expedition before the message could be translated.”

“That is correct…and the consequences were unfortunate.” Lawrence gestured toward the light shaft. Now they saw, from an omniscient point of view, the
Galileo
approaching the
Talus
starbridge; Harker suddenly realized that they were viewing video images taken by Jerry, the probe that had been parked in orbit near the starbridge.

An instant later, there was a bright flash of light, then a strange craft hurtled through the ring. “That was a
hjadd
ship,” Lawrence said, “dispatched by the
Talus
to investigate the presence of an alien vessel. An attempt was made to communicate with your ship. However…”

As they watched, a small object was launched from
Galileo
.
That goddamn torpedo
, Harker thought.
Ian, you bloody idiot…

Emily turned away, burying her face against his chest, as the torpedo silently detonated. A white-hot sphere quickly enveloped the
Galileo
, tearing it apart like a plastic toy and scattering debris in all directions, merely buffeting the
hjadd
ship. “An unfortunate misunderstanding,” Lawrence's specter intoned. “Had we known better…”

“Right.” Despite an instinctive surge of anger, Harker found himself feeling ashamed. Paranoia, distrust, ignorance: all these things had led to the destruction of his ship and its crew. “If I'd known…if I could have stopped this…”

“The situation was beyond your control.” The light shaft disappeared, and Lawrence stood before them. “You are not to blame, nor are any of your companions. As we now understand the circumstances, from our interviews with each of you, it's apparent that you made your best efforts to prevent this incident in the first place.”

For the first time, Harker realized how ironic it was that the
hjadd
had chosen Ian Lawrence's image and voice. “I'm sorry that it happened this way, too, but…”

“Not so fast.” Ramirez stood up. “We've been asleep for fifty-three years. That's a long time, especially if…”

“Yes. I'd like to know that, too.” Pulling herself away from Harker, Emily turned to confront Lawrence's ghost. “Why keep us asleep for so long? If you found us on Spindrift…”

“We discovered your shuttle on
Shaq-Taaraq
shortly after you went into biostasis,” Lawrence said. “It was recovered by our ship and transported to
Talus qua'spah
, where its memory was probed while your bodies remained in hibernation. As with the
taaraq
, it took many years for us to decipher your language. That is the reason why we're able to communicate with you in your own tongue.”

“Fifty-three years?” Ramirez was skeptical. “Weren't in any sort of rush, were you?”

Harker realized that he had a point. “He's right. There's something else going on here.” A new thought occurred to him. “Why are you still hiding? Aren't you willing to show yourselves?”

Once more, Lawrence went silent for a moment. Emily moved closer to Harker. “You think you might have pushed it a little?” she murmured. “I mean…”

“What are they afraid of?” Harker didn't bother to lower his voice. “They're holding all the cards, aren't they? If they want us to trust them, then…”

“Quite correct, Commander.” Lawrence's image became active again. “Perhaps the time has come for us to discard the mask.”

And then Ian Lawrence dissolved, to be replaced by their first sight of a
hjadd
.

 

The being that materialized before them wasn't as grotesque as a
taaraq
, but it was no less bizarre. A little shorter than Harker, the
hjadd
faintly resembled what he imagined a Galapagos tortoise might look like if it didn't have a shell. Standing erect on two short, thick legs, most of its broad body was concealed beneath a flowing, togalike garment; only its hands, oddly delicate yet covered by leathery skin the color of dark mud, could be seen, clasped together within the robe's flowing bell sleeves.

Its head, mounted at the end of an elongated neck, was narrow and hairless, its most notable feature a pair of protuberant, heavy-lidded eyes that seemed to move independently of one another. Below a stubby snout was a broad, lipless mouth that seemed to be cast in a perpetual frown. The skin around its face was mottled with colored patterns of stripes and blotches; when it spoke, small membranes on either side of its skull gently pulsed. On occasion a narrow fin, running from the top of its head down the back of its neck, rose ever so slightly.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the
hjadd
said, its voice a low, almost feminine contralto. “My name is Mahamatasja Jas Sa-Fhadda. You may call me Jas, for the sake of simplicity. I have been designated as Prime Emissary for contact between the
Talus
and your species.” It raised a webbed, six-fingered hand, held it palm outward. “Greetings and good health to you.”